Hiring local will result in an economic boost to rural Wisconsin.
Madison – The North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters is encouraged by the findings of today’s report examining the economic impact from the construction of solar farms. The impact is maximized when local area workers are hired compared to an out-of-state workforce.
The study performed by Forward Analytics concluded that a typical 150 megawatt utility-scale solar project in rural Wisconsin produces $11.8 million in local economic activity when hiring local workers. In contrast, the economic benefit drops over 60% to $4.6 million when out-of-state-workers are used.
“When local workers build Wisconsin’s infrastructure, they buy homes in our communities, spend money on main street and make apprenticeship programs flourish. Now, we have specific data showing the exact amount of that economic impact when it comes to our state’s emerging solar industry,” said Andrew Disch, Political Director for the Carpenters Union.
The timing of this study comes during a crossroads where it is unclear whether new jobs created in the renewable energy sector will be high quality middle-class jobs. “Businesses coming to Wisconsin to develop solar energy need to invest in family supporting wages and benefits to workers. We hope solar developers see the value of building local,” concluded Disch.
The full Forward Analytics report can be found at wisconininfrastructure.com/
